message we send in the midst of these storms must be clear, that our cause is just come our resolve unwavering. we will go forward with the confidence that right makes might end with the commitment to forge an america that is safer, a world that is more secure, a future that represents not the deepest of fears, but the highest of hopes. thank you, god bless you. and god bless the united states of america. [applause] thank you very much. [applause] ♪ ♪form the halls of montezuma ♪anchors away ♪ [♪military musiuc ♪] ♪wild blue yonder ♪el capitan ♪the washington post ♪hooray for the red, white and blue ♪ ♪hooray for the red, white, and blue ♪ ♪horay f/the red, white and blue ♪ [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> secretary of state clinton, robert gates, and mike mullen testified about afghanistan in two congressional hearings. at 9:00 a.m. eastern, the senate armed services committee and it 1:30 p.m., the house foreign affairs committee. you can watch both hearings live on c-span 3 and c- span.org. >> the 2

constitution, were unwavering in their desire to restrict the powers of states and limit the powers of congress. to achieve their goal, they created a system that splits state and federal authority so that one government, federal or state, does not maintain too much power over the liberty of the american people. therefore, the framers created a system with a legislature of limited and enumerated powers -- that's the congress -- to enact laws that shall be necessary and proper for the excuse of powers. one of them is the commerce clause that i just read to you, which grants congress the authority to regulate commerce to foreign nations, among the several states -- international state commerce -- and with the indian tribes. now, many have used the commerce clause to justify the implementation of this unconstitutional mandate. those individuals often cite a case wickard v. filburn, a 1942 case. a u.s. supreme court decision found that a law limiting a commerce farmer growing an additional acre of imheet to feed his chickens beyond the limited imposed by the federal government was constitu

i also want to thank mike freeman, my present boss, he's the county attorney for his unwavering support in dna issues both now and for the 8 years that he was county attorney prior to senator klobuchar's election. dna testing has solved many cold cases in the united states. i had the good fortune to prosecute the first two in 1992 and '93. one was the rape/homicide of a recent college graduate, the second was a sexual assault of a young woman by a serial rapist. neither of those men, i'm happy to say, will ever be released from prison. these successes were not the result of anything special that i did, but rather the foresight of the minnesota state legislature which began funding the bureau of criminal apprehensions dna lab in the late 1980s. it's an excellent dna testing lab and a pioneer in dna testing practices. as a recent cbs news special documented, there are a large number of untested sexual assault kits and disparities between labs in their ability to process dna kits. while it should be remembered that this issue is not as severe as it might seem at first blush, many stranger

i also want to thank mike freeman, my present boss for his unwavering support in d.n.a. issues both now and for the eight years that he was county attorney. d.n.a. has solved many cold cases in the united states. hi the good fortune to prosecute the first two cold cases in the united states in 1992 and '93. one of the rape homicides of a recent college graduate and the second was the assault of a milwaukee young woman by a serial rapist. none of those young men will be released from prison. . there was not sufficient amount of biological material to test. 13 of those cases produced john doe profiles. 13 of those cases produced a hit to a convicted offender. ten of those hits were to convicted fauvenders with previous sex list riss. three were without a history. of those 13 three have been convicted, five have been charged. in two cases we are still looking for the victim. one is still under investigation and two turned out the d.n.a. was from a consense sexual partner. these demonstrate how fruitful it can be to test this group of cases and this type of case. additional

no one else has signed enormous warmth, tremendous respect and the unwavering admiration that we allenator robert c. byrd. i am lucky every day to call senator byrd my friend, as i've been able to work with him in the senate for the last 25 years and for the preceding eight years when i was a governor. but most importantly and most powerfully, mr. president, senator byrd always makes me so very proud to be a west virginian. at our state capital in charleston, they're honoring senator byrd with a special celebration today, and the same is happening in cities and communities all across our state. my fellow west virginians are giving thanks to senator byrd's voice and for his vision. we're grateful for his strength and his rock-solid principle which has come to define west virginia as surely as our endless hills and beautiful streams. the people of my state love and respect senator robert c. byrd, in part because so many share his very powerful story. so many have battled against the odds and continue to fight every day to try to make a better life for themselves and for their community

the team has shown an unwavering commitment to excellence. they have been practicing six mornings a week starting at 5:59 a.m. since the start of the school year. and now all their hard work and lost sleep has paid off. winning the title was a perfect sendoff for coach mike gray, the njcaa coach of the year, who is retiring after leading them for over a decade. i would like to congratulate coach gray and the entire team on this amazing end to their tremendous season. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from hawaii rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman hawaii is recognized for one minute. ms. hirono: our peck slayings on wall street contributed to the deep economic hole we are in today. taxpayers have paid the price, risking around $3 trillion to stabilize the financial system. astonishingly the top three bailed out firms are reportedly on track to pay $30 billion in bonuses to top executives this year. in the meantime,

message we send in the midst of these storms must be clear, that our cause is just come our resolve unwavering. we will go forward with the confidence that right makes might end with the commitment to forge an america that is safer, a world that is more secure, a future that represents not the deepest of fears, but the highest of hopes. thank you, god bless you. and god bless the united states of america. [applause] thank you very much. [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪ but ♪ ♪ [applause] [applause] >> tomorrow, secretary of state clinton, defense secretary robert gates and eberle like moylan testified about again -- and admiral mike mullen testify about afghanistan before the armed services committee. and have wondered p.m., the house foreign affairs committee. -- and at 1:30 p.m., the house foreign affairs committee. you can see both life on c- span3 or also at c-span.org. tonight on c-span, house republicans look into allegations of criminal activity by the group acorn. the state department details efforts to fight hiv/aids iran the world. president obama announces plans to send more troops to afghanistan.

in his book he exstoles the virtues we in rural america hold dear -- humility, sacrifice, unwavering commitment all are characteristics that are exemplified by the redmond and their fans. additionally as i was told by one of the game officials after the state title game, this is the only team that year after year every game they gather on the field, hold hands, and a prayer is offered by one of the coaches or one of the players on the team. redmond football is what received the attention but behind the scenes is where the most impressive and longest lasting accomplishments are discovered. football is simply a teaching tool used by the community. the coach was quoted in the book as stating, none of this is really about football. what we are doing is sending kids into life who know that every day means something. this attitude exemplifies the teaching, coaches, and parenting philosophy of rural america. our population may be dwindling and our communities aging, but our commitment to raising good children and preparing them for life after high school is something that will never diminis

message we send in the midst of these storms must be clear, that our cause is just come our resolve unwavering. we will go forward with the confidence that right makes might end with the commitment to forge an america that is safer, a world that is more secure, a future that represents not the deepest of fears, but the highest of hopes. thank you, god bless you. and god bless the united states of america. [applause] thank you very much. [applause] ♪ [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] ♪ ♪ ♪ >> tomorrow, secretary of state clinton, defense secretary robert gates, and admiral mike mullen testified two congressional hearings. at 9:00 a.m. eastern, the senate armed services committee. and at 1:30 p.m. eastern, the house foreign affairs committee. you can watch both of these on c-span 33. >> the senate has started debate on the healthcare bill. harry reid has warned the senate to expect evening and weekend sessions. see it all on our companion network, c-span2, the only network with the full debate on edited. to watch a vi

a blue dog but let me tell you as always you know i am a very strong supporter of their strong, unwavering in leadership on the issue of making sure that our country remains fiscally sound. i now want to yield to my close friend, baron hill, who has led this effort on behalf of the blue blue dogs, the gentleman from indiana, baron hill. >> i want to thank the majority leader for his strong support of paygo. we had some interesting meetings with him and the speaker yesterday, and i am delighted to know that we have the strong support, and they support, independent of the blue dogs paygo language that will lead us back into the pathway of fiscal responsibility. i remember when we passed the stimulus package and i was walking through the tunnel and john tanner can overcome stopped me on the shoulder and said "can you believe what we have just done by borrowing all this money"? by borrowing all this money. i said i can't believe it, john, but it was necessary because the times. we came into this year hurting economically, and of course we had to do some things blue dogs are not inclined to do

blute had a deep and unwavering passion for social justice and committed herself to helping the sick and pour. the diversity of her community work is truly impressive. she volunteered with the nazareth home for boys which provide stable housing and a nurturing environment for young boys in difficult times. she also worked with the mustard seed that offers who meals to the homeless. a devout roman catholic she was especially active in st. mary's church where she served in the women's guilt and teacher and eucharistic minister. one of her proudest moments came in 1994 when colonel john jay could he connor to receive the title of dame of meteorologist alta. this is one of the highest honors bestowed by the catholic church and given to those individuals who demonstrate an intense devotion to service. i can think of no one more deserving of this honor than mrs. blute. mr. speaker, all too often we fail to adequately recognize one of the toughest yet most important jobs of all -- being a mother. mrs. blute exemplified all the best qualities of a mother, kindness, compassion, dedication, an

i am not one but as you all know, i am a very strong supporter of their strong and unwavering leadership on the issue of making sure our country remains fiscally sound. i want to yield to my close friend, barren hills, who has led this on behalf of the blue dogs. >> i want to thank the majority leader for his strong support of the payoutgo. we had some interesting meetings yesterday and i am delighted to know that we had the strong support independent of the blue dogs that will lead us into a pathway of fiscal responsibility. i remember when we passed the stimulus package, i was walking through the tunnel and somebody slapped me on the shoulder and asked if i could believe what we had done by borrowing all this money. i said that i could not but it was necessary because of the times. we came in to this year hurting economically and we had to do some things that blue dogs are not inclined to do and that is to borrow a lot of money. we have to do that at the time because of the times we are in. sometimes people forget that. we had to do some things differently and the earlier part of this

i also want to thank mike freeman, my present boss for his unwavering support in d.n.a. issues both now and for the eight years that he was county attorney. d.n.a. has solved many cold cases in the united states. hi the good fortune to prosecute the first two cold cases in the united states in 1992 and '93. one of the rape homicides of a recent college graduate and the second was the assault of a milwaukee young woman by a serial rapist. none of those young men will be released from prison. . there was not sufficient amount of biological material to test. 13 of those cases produced john doe profiles. 13 of those cases produced a hit to a convicted offender. ten of those hits were to convicted fauvenders with previous sex list riss. three were without a history. of those 13 three have been convicted, five have been charged. in two cases we are still looking for the victim. one is still under investigation and two turned out the d.n.a. was from a consense sexual partner. these demonstrate how fruitful it can be to test this group of cases and this type of case. additional

that is a testament to the unwavering commitment they make to serve and protect each of us every day, and it should remind all of us that these brave men and women who deserve all the support that we can provide to keep them safe. mr. president, no words are adequate to express the shock, the anger, and the disbelief that comes with such a brutal crime, and no words will be enough to lessen the loss. our law enforcement professionals put themselves between us and danger every day. right now, in light of such horrible events, we hold them even closer in our thoughts and our prayers. mr. president, i yield to my colleague from washington state, senator cantwell. ms. cantwell: mr. president, i rise today to join my colleague senator murray to express my sorrow over the tragedy that has struck washington state and the law enforcement community. i want to extend the prayers and condolences of the senate and the entire nation, to the families, loved ones, and colleagues of the four police officers that were killed and lost their life in the line of duty sunday in lakewood, washington. those